U.S. patent application number 16/390335 was filed with the patent office on 2020-10-22 for enhanced portable device operation.
This patent application is currently assigned to Ford Global Technologies, LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is Ford Global Technologies, LLC. Invention is credited to JAYANTHI RAO.
Application Number | 20200336967 16/390335 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000004071043 |
Filed Date | 2020-10-22 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200336967 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
RAO; JAYANTHI |
October 22, 2020 |
ENHANCED PORTABLE DEVICE OPERATION
Abstract
A portable device includes a processor and a memory, the memory
storing instructions executable by the processor to identify the
portable device as being in a vehicle, to identify an application
on the portable device that transmits a location of the portable
device to the vehicle, and to suppress communication by the
application.
Inventors: |
RAO; JAYANTHI; (West
Bloomfield, MI) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Ford Global Technologies, LLC |
Dearborn |
MI |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Ford Global Technologies,
LLC
Dearborn
MI
|
Family ID: |
1000004071043 |
Appl. No.: |
16/390335 |
Filed: |
April 22, 2019 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 48/04 20130101;
H04W 4/027 20130101; H04W 4/80 20180201; H04W 4/40 20180201 |
International
Class: |
H04W 48/04 20060101
H04W048/04; H04W 4/02 20060101 H04W004/02; H04W 4/40 20060101
H04W004/40; H04W 4/80 20060101 H04W004/80 |
Claims
1. A portable device including a processor and a memory, the memory
storing instructions executable by the processor to: identify the
portable device as being in a vehicle; identify a
vehicle-to-pedestrian application on the portable device that is
configured to transmit a location of the portable device to the
vehicle to a computer of the vehicle regardless of the location of
the portable device relative to the vehicle; and suppress
communication by the identified vehicle-to-pedestrian
application.
2. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions further
include instructions to identify the vehicle-to-pedestrian
application upon determining that the vehicle-to-pedestrian
application instructs the portable device to communicate with the
vehicle over a cellular network.
3. The portable device of claim 2, wherein the cellular network is
a Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) network.
4. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions further
include instructions to identify a geo-location of the portable
device and to identify the portable device as being in the vehicle
upon determining that the geo-location of the portable device is
within a distance threshold of a geo-location of the vehicle.
5. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions further
include instructions to identify the portable device as being in
the vehicle based on data indicating at least one of speed,
acceleration, or angular velocity of the portable device.
6. The portable device of claim 5, wherein the instructions further
include instructions to actuate one or more portable device sensors
to collect the data.
7. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions further
include instructions to, upon receiving a periodic message from the
vehicle, identify the portable device as being in the vehicle.
8. The portable device of claim 7, wherein the periodic message is
a sequence of light pulses emitted from a vehicle cabin light.
9. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to
identify the vehicle-to-pedestrian application further include
instructions to determine that the vehicle-to-pedestrian
application includes programming to receive at least one of a
collision warning or a traffic signal from the vehicle.
10. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions
further include instructions to, upon determining that the portable
device has exited the vehicle, allow communication by the
vehicle-to-pedestrian application.
11. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to
identify the vehicle-to-pedestrian application further include
instructions to determine a message rate of an application and to
identify the vehicle-to-pedestrian application when the message
rate is below a predetermined threshold.
12. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to
identify the application further include instructions to determine
that the vehicle-to-pedestrian application is programmed to
transmit a heading of the portable device to the vehicle.
13. A method, comprising: identifying a portable device as being in
a vehicle; identifying a vehicle-to-pedestrian application on the
portable device that is configured to transmit a location of the
portable device to a computer of the vehicle regardless of the
location of the portable device relative to the vehicle; and
suppressing communication by the application.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising identifying the
vehicle-to-pedestrian application upon determining that an
application instructs the portable device to communicate with the
vehicle over a cellular network.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising identifying the
vehicle-to-pedestrian application that is configured to to receive
at least one of a collision warning or a traffic signal from the
vehicle.
16. The method of claim 13, further comprising, upon determining
that the portable device has exited the vehicle, allowing
communication by the vehicle-to-pedestrian application.
17. A system, comprising: a portable device including a
vehicle-to-pedestrian application that is configured to transmit a
location of the portable device to a computer of a vehicle
regardless of the location of the portable device relative to the
vehicle; means for identifying the portable device as being in the
vehicle; means for identifying the vehicle-to-pedestrian
application; and means for suppressing communication by the
vehicle-to-pedestrian application.
18. The system of claim 17, further comprising means for
identifying the vehicle-to-pedestrian application upon determining
that the vehicle-to-pedestrian application instructs the portable
device to communicate with the vehicle over a cellular network.
19. The system of claim 17, further comprising means for
identifying the vehicle-to-pedestrian application that is
configured to to receive at least one of a collision warning or a
traffic signal from the vehicle.
20. The system of claim 17, further comprising means for allowing
communication by the vehicle-to-pedestrian application upon
determining that the portable device has exited the vehicle.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Portable devices, such as mobile phones and wearable
devices, can communicate with vehicles. The portable devices can
transmit data and/or messages to the vehicles, and the vehicles can
transmit data and/or messages to the portable devices. The
transmissions occur over a network. Such networks typically have
dedicated bandwidth for transmissions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0002] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system for operating
a portable device in a vehicle.
[0003] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the portable device outside of a
vehicle.
[0004] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the portable device inside a
vehicle.
[0005] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example process for
operating the portable device in a vehicle.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0006] A portable device includes a processor and a memory, the
memory storing instructions executable by the processor to identify
the portable device as being in a vehicle, identify an application
on the portable device that transmits a location of the portable
device to the vehicle and suppress communication by the
application.
[0007] The instructions can further include instructions to
identify the application upon determining that the application
instructs the portable device to communicate with the vehicle over
a cellular network.
[0008] The cellular network can be a C-V2X network.
[0009] The instructions can further include instructions to
identify a geo-location of the portable device and to identify the
portable device as being in the vehicle upon determining that the
geo-location of the portable device is within a distance threshold
of a geo-location of the vehicle.
[0010] The instructions can further include instructions to
identify the portable device as being in the vehicle based on data
indicating at least one of speed, acceleration, or angular velocity
of the portable device.
[0011] The instructions can further include instructions to actuate
one or more portable device sensors to collect the data.
[0012] The instructions can further include instructions to, upon
receiving a periodic message from the vehicle, identify the
portable device as being in the vehicle.
[0013] The periodic message can be a sequence of light pulses
emitted from a vehicle cabin light.
[0014] The instructions to identify the application can further
include instructions to determine that the application includes
programming to receive at least one of a collision warning or a
traffic signal from the vehicle.
[0015] The instructions can further include instructions to, upon
determining that the portable device has exited the vehicle, allow
communication by the application.
[0016] The instructions to identify the application can further
include instructions to determine a message rate of an application
and to identify the application when the message rate is below a
predetermined threshold.
[0017] The instructions to identify the application can further
include instructions to determine that the application is
programmed to transmit a heading of the portable device to the
vehicle.
[0018] A method includes identifying a portable device as being in
a vehicle, identifying an application on the portable device that
transmits a location of the portable device to the vehicle, and
suppressing communication by the application.
[0019] The method can further include identifying the application
upon determining that the application instructs the portable device
to communicate with the vehicle over a cellular network.
[0020] The method can further include identifying a geo-location of
the portable device and identifying the portable device as being in
the vehicle upon determining that the geo-location of the portable
device is within a distance threshold of a geo-location of the
vehicle.
[0021] The method can further include identifying the portable
device as being in the vehicle based on data indicating at least
one of speed, acceleration, or angular velocity of the portable
device.
[0022] The method can further include actuating one or more
portable device sensors to collect the data.
[0023] The method can further include, upon receiving a periodic
message from the vehicle, identifying the portable device as being
in the vehicle.
[0024] The method can further include determining that the
application includes programming to receive at least one of a
collision warning or a traffic signal from the vehicle.
[0025] The method can further include, upon determining that the
portable device has exited the vehicle, allowing communication by
the application.
[0026] The method can further include determining a message rate of
an application and to identify the application when the message
rate is below a predetermined threshold.
[0027] The method can further include determining that the
application is programmed to transmit a heading of the portable
device to the vehicle.
[0028] A system includes a portable device including an application
that transmits a location of the portable device to a vehicle,
means for identifying the portable device as being in the vehicle,
means for identifying the application, and means for suppressing
communication by the application.
[0029] The system can further include means for identifying the
application upon determining that an application instructs the
portable device to communicate with the vehicle over a cellular
network.
[0030] The system can further include means for identifying an
application including instructions to receive at least one of a
collision warning or a traffic signal from the vehicle.
[0031] The system can further include means for allowing
communication by the application upon determining that the portable
device has exited the vehicle.
[0032] Further disclosed is a computing device programmed to
execute any of the above method steps. Yet further disclosed is a
vehicle comprising the computing device. Yet further disclosed is a
computer program product, comprising a computer readable medium
storing instructions executable by a computer processor, to execute
any of the above method steps.
[0033] Current LTE (Long Term Evolution) standards support
vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. Portable devices can
include V2X capability to communicate with vehicles. For example, a
portable device could include a vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P)
application with programming to transmit information (e.g., a
location, a heading, etc.) of the portable device to one or more
vehicles according to V2X communications. A vehicle computer could
include programming to transmit data including warnings (e.g., a
collision warning, an approach warning, a traffic signal, etc.) to
one or more portable devices including a V2P application via V2x.
However, a portable device in a vehicle typically means that a user
in possession of the portable devices is not a pedestrian and is
not in danger of collisions with vehicles. In this scenario, V2P
applications may be unnecessary and/or undesireable. Moreover,
unnecessary communication by portable devices needlessly consumes
V2X communications bandwidth and may cause congestion in V2X
communications.
[0034] Advantageously, suppressing communication of V2P
applications of portable devices in vehicles frees bandwidth for
other V2P and/or V2X communications. Because the available
bandwidth for V2X communications may be limited, reducing the
number of portable devices that communicate over V2X provides or
frees bandwidth for other V2X communications including for portable
devices that should communicate over the V2X network, e.g., devices
carried by pedestrians. Reducing congestion of the V2X network can
thus allow portable devices outside of any vehicle to communicate
more readily with one or more vehicles.
[0035] FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 including a portable device
140 communicatively coupled to a vehicle 101 computer 105. The
computer 105 is programmed to receive collected data 115 from one
or more sensors 110, e.g., vehicle 101 sensors, concerning various
metrics related to the vehicle 101. For example, the metrics may
include a velocity of the vehicle 101, vehicle 101 acceleration
and/or deceleration, data related to vehicle 101 path or steering,
biometric data related to a vehicle 101 operator, e.g., heart rate,
respiration, pupil dilation, body temperature, state of
consciousness, etc. Further examples of such metrics may include
measurements of vehicle systems and components (e.g. a steering
system, a powertrain system, a brake system, internal sensing,
external sensing, etc.).
[0036] The computer 105 is generally programmed for communications
on a controller area network (CAN) bus or the like. The computer
105 may also have a connection to an onboard diagnostics connector
(OBD-II). Via the CAN bus, OBD-II, and/or other wired or wireless
mechanisms, the computer 105 may transmit messages to various
devices in a vehicle and/or receive messages from the various
devices, e.g., controllers, actuators, sensors, etc., including
sensors 110. Alternatively or additionally, in cases where the
computer 105 actually comprises multiple devices, the CAN bus or
the like may be used for communications between devices represented
as the computer 105 in this disclosure. In addition, the computer
105 may be programmed for communicating with the network 125,
which, as described below, may include various wired and/or
wireless networking technologies, e.g., cellular, Bluetooth, wired
and/or wireless packet networks, etc.
[0037] Collected data 115 may include a variety of data collected
in a vehicle 101. Examples of collected data 115 are provided
above, and moreover, data 115 is generally collected using one or
more sensors 110, and may additionally include data calculated
therefrom in the computer 105, and/or at the server 130. In
general, collected data 115 may include any data that may be
gathered by the sensors 110 and/or computed from such data.
[0038] The vehicle 101 can include a plurality of vehicle
components 120. In this context, each vehicle component 120
includes one or more hardware components adapted to perform a
mechanical function or operation--such as moving the vehicle 101,
slowing or stopping the vehicle 101, steering the vehicle 101, etc.
Non-limiting examples of components 120 include a propulsion
component (that includes, e.g., an internal combustion engine
and/or an electric motor, etc.), a transmission component, a
steering component (e.g., that may include one or more of a
steering wheel, a steering rack, etc.), a brake component (as
described below), a park assist component, an adaptive cruise
control component, an adaptive steering component, a movable seat,
or the like.
[0039] When the computer 105 partially or fully operates the
vehicle 101, the vehicle 101 is an "autonomous" vehicle 101. For
purposes of this disclosure, the term "autonomous vehicle" is used
to refer to a vehicle 101 operating in a fully autonomous mode. A
fully autonomous mode is defined as one in which each of vehicle
propulsion, braking, and steering are controlled by the computer
105. A semi-autonomous mode is one in which at least one of vehicle
propulsion, braking, and steering are controlled at least partly by
the computer 105 as opposed to a human operator. In a
non-autonomous mode, i.e., a manual mode, the vehicle propulsion,
braking, and steering are controlled by the human operator.
[0040] The system 100 can further include a network 125 connected
to a server 130 and a data store 135. The computer 105 can further
be programmed to communicate with one or more remote sites such as
the server 130, via the network 125, such remote site possibly
including a data store 135. The network 125 represents one or more
mechanisms by which a vehicle computer 105 may communicate with a
remote server 130. Accordingly, the network 125 can be one or more
of various wired or wireless communication mechanisms, including
any desired combination of wired (e.g., cable and fiber) and/or
wireless (e.g., cellular, wireless, satellite, microwave, and radio
frequency) communication mechanisms and any desired network
topology (or topologies when multiple communication mechanisms are
utilized). Exemplary communication networks include wireless
communication networks (e.g., using Bluetooth.RTM., Bluetooth.RTM.
Low Energy (BLE), IEEE 802.11, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) such as
Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), etc.), local area
networks (LAN) and/or wide area networks (WAN), including the
Internet, providing data communication services.
[0041] The network 125 can be a vehicle-to-everything network
(V2X), where "X" signifies an entity with which a vehicle can
communicate, e.g., a vehicle (V2V), infrastructure (V2I), a
pedestrian (V2P), etc. The computer 105 can communicate with one or
more devices over the V2X network, e.g., with another vehicle 101,
with a device mounted to infrastructure, to a user outside of the
vehicle 101, etc. One example of a V2X network 125 is a
cellular-V2X (C-V2X) network. The C-V2X network is a band of
frequencies dedicated to V2X communications, e.g., between vehicles
101, portable devices 140, etc. For example, the C-V2X network can
include frequencies between 5.90 and 5.99 gigahertz (GHz) (e.g.,
5.85-5.925 GHz).
[0042] A portable device 140 can be any one of a variety of
computers that can be used while carried by a person, e.g., a
smartphone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant, a smart watch,
a vibrating apparatus, etc. The portable device 140 can communicate
via the network 125 and also directly with a vehicle computer 105,
e.g., using Bluetooth.RTM.. The portable device 140 includes a
processor 145 programmed to run one or more applications stored in
a memory. An "application" is programming stored in the memory that
includes instructions that the processor 145 executes to perform an
operation. For example, the application can be a communications
application that transmits a location of the portable device 140
over the network 125 to, e.g., the computer 105, the server 130,
etc.
[0043] An example of an application on a device 140 is a
vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) application. A V2P application includes
instructions to transmit data 115 from the processor 145 over the
network 125 to the computer 105 and/or the server 130 and to
receive data 115 from the computer 105 and/or the server 130. That
is, the V2P application includes instructions for the portable
device 140 (typically carried by a pedestrian) to communicate with
one or more vehicles 101. Example communications by V2P
applications include, e.g., transmission of a location of the
portable device 140 to the vehicles 101, transmission of a
collision warning from the vehicles 101 to the portable device 140,
transmission of a traffic signal from the vehicles 101 to the
portable device 140, etc. Because the V2P applications use
bandwidth over the network 125, the processor 145 can suppress
communication by the V2P applications when communication is not
necessary, e.g., when the portable device 140 is in one of the
vehicles 101.
[0044] The portable device 140 can include at least one sensor 150.
The sensor 150 any one of a variety of sensors that can provide
data to determine motion and/or a location of a device 140, e.g.,
an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a global position sensor, or some
other sensor that can provide data to determine motion and/or
location of the device 140. The sensor 150 can collect data 115 on
the position of the portable device 140 relative to the vehicle
101. The processor 145 can transmit the data 115 collected by the
sensor 150 over the network 125 to the computer 105 and/or the
server 130.
[0045] Further, various controllers in a vehicle may operate as
sensors 110, 150 to provide data 115 via the CAN bus and/or the
network 125, e.g., data 115 relating to vehicle speed,
acceleration, system and/or component functionality, etc., of any
number of vehicles 101. Yet further, sensors or the like, global
positioning system (GPS) equipment, etc., could be included in a
vehicle 101 and/or the portable device 140 and configured as
sensors 110, 15 to provide data directly to the computer 105, e.g.,
via a wired or wireless connection. Vehicle 101 sensors 110 could
include mechanisms such as RADAR, LIDAR, sonar, etc. sensors that
could be deployed to measure a distance between the vehicle 101 and
other vehicles or objects. Yet other sensors 110, 150 could include
cameras, breathalyzers, motion detectors, etc., i.e., sensors 110,
150 to provide data 115 for evaluating a condition or state of a
vehicle 101 operator.
[0046] FIG. 2 shows an example vehicle 101 and an example portable
device 140. The portable device 140 communicates with the vehicle
101 over the network 125, e.g., a C-V2X network as described above.
The portable device 140 includes an application that transmits a
location of the portable device 140 to the computer 105. For
example, the application can be a V2P application, as described
above, that allows the computer 105 to warn the user in possession
of the portable device 140 that the vehicle 101 is approaching.
Upon transmitting the location of the portable device 140 to the
computer 105, the computer 105 can determine whether the vehicle
101 is at risk of colliding with the user in possession of the
portable device 140. The computer 105 can then send a warning to
the processor 145. For example, the computer 105 can send a warning
indicating that the vehicle 101 is approaching and that the user in
possession of the portable device 140 should stop and/or avoid the
vehicle 101. Additionally or alternatively, the computer 105 can
send, e.g., a collision warning, a traffic signal, etc., over the
network 125 to the portable device 140.
[0047] FIG. 3 shows the portable device 140 inside the vehicle 101.
The portable device 140 is "in" or "inside" the vehicle 101 when
the portable device 140 is disposed within a passenger cabin of the
vehicle 101. When the portable device 140 is in the vehicle 101,
the processor 145 suppresses communication of one or more V2P
applications to reduce bandwidth use by the portable device 140.
That is, the V2P applications typically transmit a location of the
portable device 140 to vehicle 101 to protect users from oncoming
vehicles 101. Because the portable device 140 is in the vehicle
101, the user in possession of the portable device 140 is not in
danger of a vehicle-to-pedestrian collision and suppressing
communication of V2P applications frees available bandwidth for
other portable devices 140 outside of the vehicle 101.
[0048] The processor 145 can determine that the portable device 140
is in the vehicle 101 based on geo-location data 115. The processor
145 can request, e.g., from the server 130, a geo-location of the
portable device 140 and a geo-location of the vehicle 101. A
"geo-location" is a set of coordinates (e.g., latitude and
longitude) indicating a location on the surface of the earth, e.g.,
with respect to a global coordinate system. The processor 145 can
determine a distance between the geo-location of the portable
device 140 and the geo-location of the vehicle 101, e.g., with the
Pythagorean Theorem applied to a right triangle having legs that
are the difference in the latitude and the difference in longitude,
respectively, of the geo-locations of the portable device 140 and
the vehicle 101. If the distance is within a distance threshold
(i.e., the portable device 140 is within the distance threshold of
the vehicle 101), the processor 145 can determine that the portable
device 140 is in the vehicle 101. The distance threshold can be a
smallest distance between two points on an exterior of the vehicle
101, e.g., a width of the vehicle 101. The distance threshold can
be, e.g., 1.75 meters. That is, if the geo-location of the portable
device 140 is within 1.75 meters of the geo-location of the vehicle
101, the processor 145 can determine that the portable device 140
is in the vehicle 101.
[0049] The processor 145 can determine that the portable device 140
is in the vehicle 101, i.e., in the passenger cabin and/or a
luggage compartment inside the vehicle 101 body, i.e., in a vehicle
101 interior, when data 115 from one or more portable device
sensors 150 indicate that the portable device 140 is moving at a
speed and/or acceleration substantially at the speed and/or
acceleration of the vehicle 101. When the portable device 140 is in
the vehicle 101, the portable device 140 can have a speed and/or
acceleration substantially at, i.e., the same as, the speed and/or
acceleration of the vehicle 101. The speed and/or acceleration are
typically greater, often by an order of magnitude, than a speed
and/or acceleration of a user in possession of the portable device
140 outside of the vehicle 101. For example, the processor 145 can
identify a geo-location of the portable device 140 at specified
intervals of time (i.e., periodically), and can predict a speed of
the portable device 140 based on the geo-location data 115. That
is, the processor 145 can determine the average distance between
geo-location data 115 over a time elapsed collecting the
geo-location data 115 to predict the speed of the portable device
140. If the predicted speed is above a speed threshold determined
as a speed faster than average user speeds, the processor 145 can
determine that the portable device 140 is inside the vehicle 101.
The speed threshold can be, e.g., 20 kilometers per hour (kph), 25
kph, 30 kph, etc. That is, users typically walk more slowly than 20
kph, and vehicles 101 typically move faster than 20 kph, and when
the processor 145 determines that the portable device 140 has a
speed exceeding 20 kph, the portable device 140 is likely in the
vehicle 101. Additionally, movement of the portable device 140 in
the vehicle 101 can result in an angular velocity of the portable
device 140 typically greater than an angular velocity of the
portable device 140 outside of the vehicle 101.
[0050] The portable device sensors 150 can collect data 115 of a
speed, acceleration, and/or angular velocity of the portable device
140. For example, the sensors 150 can include an accelerometer that
collects acceleration data. In another example, the sensors 150 can
include a gyroscope that collects angular velocity data. In yet
another example, the sensors 150 can include a speed sensor that
collects position and time data of the portable device 140 to
determine the speed of the portable device 140. The processor 145
can compare the speed, acceleration, and angular velocity to
respective speed, acceleration, and angular velocity thresholds.
The speed threshold can be a fixed value above an average speed of
a pedestrian, as described above at 20 kph, a maximum speed of a
user on a bicycle (i.e., a typical maximum speed of a user in
possession of the portable device 140 outside of the vehicle),
e.g., 40 kilometers per hour. The acceleration threshold can be a
maximum braking acceleration of a bicycle, e.g., 9 meters per
second squared. The angular velocity threshold can be a maximum
angular velocity of a bicycle, e.g., 0.1 radians per second.
[0051] The computer 105 can send a message to the processor 145
indicating that the portable device 140 is in the vehicle 101. The
computer 105 can send a message over the network 125, e.g., via one
or more of DSRC, Bluetooth.RTM., Wi-Fi, C-V2X, etc., when the
computer 105 detects the portable device 140 in the vehicle 101.
Alternatively or additionally, the computer 105 can provide a
periodic message 155 to the processor 145 indicating that the
portable device 140 is in the vehicle 101. For example, the
computer 105 can actuate one or more cabin lights in a passenger
cabin of the vehicle 101 in a sequence of light pulses at a
specified pattern. The specified pattern can be, e.g., 1 pulse
every 500 milliseconds. The processor 145 can actuate one or more
sensors 150 to receive the light pulses of the periodic message
155. The processor 145 can include instructions that indicate that
the specified pattern is a message from the computer 105 indicating
that the portable device 140 is in the vehicle 101. Upon
identifying the specified pattern, the processor 145 can determine
that the portable device 140 is in the vehicle 101. Alternatively
or additionally, the computer 105 can send the periodic message 155
over the network 125, e.g., via Bluetooth.RTM. Low Energy, DSRC,
Wi-Fi, C-V2X, etc.
[0052] Upon determining that the portable device 140 is in the
vehicle 101, the processor 145 identifies V2P applications. As one
example, the processor 145 can identify the V2P applications based
on messages that the applications are programmed to instruct the
processor 145 to send. For example, if the application includes
instructions to transmit a location of the portable device 140 to
the computer 105 and/or the server 130, the processor 145 can
identify the application as a V2P application. In another example,
if the application includes instructions to receive a collision
warning and/or a traffic signal from the computer 105 and/or the
server 130, the processor 145 can identify the application as a V2P
application. In yet another example, the processor 145 can
determine a message rate of an application, i.e., a time rate at
which the application instructs the processor 145 to transmit a
message to the computer 105 and/or the server 130. V2P applications
typically have lower message rates (e.g., 1 message per second)
than other applications, e.g., text messaging applications,
navigation applications, etc., which can communicate with the
server 130 at message rates of, e.g., 10 messages per second. If
the processor 145 determines that the application has a message
rate below a predetermined threshold, the processor 145 can
identify the application as a V2P application. The predetermined
threshold can be an average message rate for a plurality of
applications determined to be V2P applications, e.g., 2 messages
per second. In yet another example, the application can include a
marker, e.g., a text string, a line of code, etc., that identifies
the application as a V2P application and instructs the processor
145 to suppress communications of the application upon determining
that the portable device 140 is in the vehicle. Such a marker can
be registered with an operating system of the processor 145 that
identifies the application to the processor 145 as a V2P
application for suppression of communication.
[0053] Upon identifying the V2P applications, the processor 145
suppresses communication by the V2P applications. To suppress
communication, the processor 145 can, upon receiving an instruction
from the application to transmit a message over the network 125,
execute instructions to ignore the instruction and determine not to
transmit the message. Alternatively or additionally, the processor
145 can execute instructions to prevent activation of the V2P
applications entirely. Suppressing the communication by the V2P
applications frees bandwidth on the C-V2X network for portable
devices 140 outside of the vehicle 101.
[0054] Upon a device 140 exiting the vehicle 101, the processor 145
can restore communication to the V2P application. The processor 145
can determine that the portable device 140 has exited the vehicle
101 with one or more of the techniques described above to determine
that the portable device 140 is in the vehicle 101. For example,
the processor 145 can determine that the portable device 140 has
exited the vehicle 101 based on geo-location data of the portable
device 140 and the vehicle 101. In another example, the processor
145 can determine that the portable device 140 has exited the
vehicle 101 when a detected speed of the portable device 140,
determined from data 115 from one or more sensors 150, is below a
speed threshold. Upon determining that the portable device 140 is
outside the vehicle 101, the processor 145 restores communication
to the V2P application and transmits the location of the portable
device 140 to nearby vehicles 101 over the network 125.
[0055] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example process 400 for
operating a portable device 140. The process 400 begins in a block
405, in which a processor 145 in the portable device 140 determines
whether the portable device 140 is in a vehicle 101. As described
above, the processor 145 can determine that the portable device 140
is in the vehicle 101 based on, e.g., geo-location data 115 of the
portable device 140 and the vehicle 101, a communication over the
network 125 from a computer 105 in the vehicle 101, speed data 115
of the portable device 140, etc. If the processor 145 determines
that the portable device 140 is in a vehicle 101, the process 400
continues in a block 410. Otherwise, the process 400 continues in a
block 430.
[0056] In the block 410, the processor 145 identifies a V2P
application on the portable device 140. As described above, the V2P
application is an application that includes programming to transmit
a location of the portable device 140 to one or more vehicles 101.
The V2P application transmits the location over the network 125,
consuming bandwidth over the C-V2X network 125. Alternatively, the
processor 145 can identify the V2P application based on a message
rate of the application.
[0057] Next, in a block 415, the processor 145 suppresses
communication of the V2P application. As described above, the
processor 145 prevents communication by the V2P application over
the network 125, e.g., the C-V2X network. Because the portable
device 140 does not need to communicate with vehicles 101 when
inside the vehicle 101, suppressing communication of the V2P
application frees available bandwidth on the C-V2X network 125 for
portable devices 140 outside of the vehicle 101.
[0058] Next, in a block 420, the processor 145 determines whether
the portable device 140 has exited the vehicle 101. As described
above, the processor 145 can determine that the portable device 140
has exited the vehicle 101 based on, e.g., geo-location data 115 of
the portable device 140 and the vehicle 101, communications between
the computer 105 and the processor 145, etc. If the processor 145
determines that the portable device 140 has exited the vehicle 101,
the process 400 continues in a block 425. Otherwise, the process
400 returns to the block 415.
[0059] In the block 425, the processor 145 restores communication
by the V2P application. Because the portable device 140 is outside
the vehicle 101, the processor 145 can implement V2P applications
to communicate with vehicles 101 over the C-V2X network. Thus, the
processor 145 can transmit the location of the portable device 140
to vehicles 101, and computer 105 in the vehicle 101 can transmit
warnings to the processor 145.
[0060] Next, in a block 430, the processor 145 determines whether
to continue the process 400. For example, the processor 145 can
determine not to continue the process 400 when the processor 145
receives user input to power down the portable device. If the
processor 145 determines to continue, the process 400 returns to
the block 405. Otherwise, the process 400 ends.
[0061] As used herein, the adverb "substantially" modifying an
adjective means that a shape, structure, measurement, value,
calculation, etc. may deviate from an exact described geometry,
distance, measurement, value, calculation, etc., because of
imperfections in materials, machining, manufacturing, data
collector measurements, computations, processing time,
communications time, etc.
[0062] Computing devices discussed herein, including the computer
105, the server 130, and the portable device 140 include processors
and memories, the memories generally each including instructions
executable by one or more computing devices such as those
identified above, and for carrying out blocks or steps of processes
described above. Computer executable instructions may be compiled
or interpreted from computer programs created using a variety of
programming languages and/or technologies, including, without
limitation, and either alone or in combination, Java.TM., C, C++,
Visual Basic, Java Script, Perl, HTML, etc. In general, a processor
(e.g., a microprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a
memory, a computer readable medium, etc., and executes these
instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including
one or more of the processes described herein. Such instructions
and other data may be stored and transmitted using a variety of
computer readable media. A file in the computer 105 is generally a
collection of data stored on a computer readable medium, such as a
storage medium, a random access memory, etc.
[0063] A computer readable medium includes any medium that
participates in providing data (e.g., instructions), which may be
read by a computer. Such a medium may take many forms, including,
but not limited to, non volatile media, volatile media, etc. Non
volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and
other persistent memory. Volatile media include dynamic random
access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes a main memory.
Common forms of computer readable media include, for example, a
floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other
magnetic medium, a CD ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch
cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of
holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH EEPROM, any other memory
chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can
read.
[0064] With regard to the media, processes, systems, methods, etc.
described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps
of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according
to a certain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced
with the described steps performed in an order other than the order
described herein. It further should be understood that certain
steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be
added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. For
example, in the process 400, one or more of the steps could be
omitted, or the steps could be executed in a different order than
shown in FIG. 4. In other words, the descriptions of systems and/or
processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating
certain embodiments and should in no way be construed so as to
limit the disclosed subject matter.
[0065] Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present
disclosure, including the above description and the accompanying
figures and below claims, is intended to be illustrative and not
restrictive. Many embodiments and applications other than the
examples provided would be apparent to those of skill in the art
upon reading the above description. The scope of the invention
should be determined, not with reference to the above description,
but should instead be determined with reference to claims appended
hereto and/or included in a non provisional patent application
based hereon, along with the full scope of equivalents to which
such claims are entitled. It is anticipated and intended that
future developments will occur in the arts discussed herein, and
that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into
such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the
disclosed subject matter is capable of modification and
variation.
[0066] The article "a" modifying a noun should be understood as
meaning one or more unless stated otherwise, or context requires
otherwise. The phrase "based on" encompasses being partly or
entirely based on.
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